Persona 5
Persona 5 is a role-playing video game developed by Atlus, Vicarious Visions and High Moon Studios for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. Persona 5 is chronologically the sixth installment in the Persona series, which is part of the larger Megami Tensei franchise. Published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Activision in Worldwide and by Deep Silver in Europe and Australia, the game was released first in Japan in September 2016, and worldwide in April 2017. Persona 5 takes place in Tokyo, and follows the player-named protagonist after his transfer to the fictional Shujin Academy after being put on probation for an assault of which he was falsely accused. During the course of a school year, he and other students awaken to their Persona powers, become masked vigilantes dubbed the "Phantom Thieves of Hearts", and explore the supernatural Metaverse realm to steal ill intent from the hearts of adults. As with previous titles in the series, the party does battle with supernatural enemies using manifestations of their psyche called Personas. The game incorporates role-playing elements and dungeon exploration alongside social simulation scenarios. Preparatory work began around the same time as the development of Persona 4, with full development beginning after the release of Catherine in 2011. Returning prominent staff from previous games included director Zach Snyder, producers Charles Roven and Deborah Snyder with Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas as executive producers, character designer Shigenori Soejima, screenwriter David S. Goyer and composers Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL. The game's themes revolved around attaining freedom from the limitations of modern society; the story was strongly inspired by picaresque fiction, and the party's initial Personas were based around the theme of outlaws and rebels. First announced in 2013, the game was delayed from its original late 2014 release date so its quality could be further improved. Media adaptations and video game spin-offs have been developed. The game went on to sell over two million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling entry in the Megami Tensei franchise. Persona 5 was met with critical acclaim, with many calling it one of the greatest role-playing games of all time. Gameplay Persona 5 is a role-playing game where the player takes on the role of a high school student who lives out a single year while attending high school in Tokyo: the game is governed by a day-night cycle and weather systems that determine general behavior similar to a social simulation. The year is punctuated by both scripted and random events — the protagonist attends school, can go to part-time jobs within Tokyo, and pursue leisure activities or create items for use in other areas of the game. These various activities raise character attributes, which in turn grant passive buffing effects during battle. When in the real world, the main protagonist can develop character relationships dubbed Confidant; an evolution of the Social Link system from Persona 3 and 4. With this system, the main protagonist can converse with and improve his relationship with other characters he meets, with some leading to possible romances. Each relationship is symbolized by one of the major arcana, and each Confidant link grants different boosts to the character: all party members character eventually learn Baton Pass, which allows the player to change to another character after a critical hit while granting a temporary stat boost, while others improve Negotiation abilities, XP gain, or give access to new items and equipment. Alongside the normal school life is dungeon exploration of two different dungeon types within a realm called the Metaverse: story-specific dungeons called Palaces and randomly-generated Mementos dungeons both populated by Shadows, manifestations of suppressed psyches. Within Mementos dungeons, the party can fulfill requests from non-playable characters (NPCs) received from a Confidant links. While navigating, the party uses stealth to avoid the sight of enemy Shadows, and some areas hold puzzles that can be solved using an insight ability dubbed "Third Eye", which highlights interactable objects and enemy strength, When exploring story-centered Palaces, an "Alertness Meter" is present, where the party being spotted or fleeing combat results in security being raised. If security becomes too high, the party is forced to leave the Palace. The Alertness level can be lowered by launching surprise attacks on and eliminating enemies. As with previous entries in the series, the game uses a turn-based combat system: battles can be initiated when the party runs into an enemy, or they can launch a surprise attack and gain an advantage in battle. In battle, the party has access to long-range and short-range weapons, in addition to being able to summon Personas. Personas, the manifestations of the main characters' inner psyche, are summoned through the mask each character wears. Beginning with an initial Persona, the party uses elemental, physical and magical attacks: most enemies have a particular weakness. If a character strikes an enemy's weak point, they are awarded an additional turn and knock down the enemy. When all enemies are knocked down, a "Hold Up" session is triggered. During Hold Up, the party can launch a devastating All-Out Attack, demand money or items, or enter Negotiation. Negotiation allows the protagonist to win the selected Shadow over to their side to become a new Persona: they can only be persuaded if the protagonist is of the right level and has sufficient room in their roster. If a party member is knocked out, they can be captured by the enemy Shadows, and will be unable to return to the party if the resultant Negotiation fails. Similar to previous entries, party members can be knocked out, and if the main character is knocked out, the player immediately loses. New Personas are gained from battle through successful Negotiation, and different Persona types are represented through different arcana linked to Confidant links. Personas can in be combined, or "fused," and further manipulated within the Velvet Room, a realm the protagonist visits as part of his journey through the story where he can also accept side quests. Within the Velvet Room, Personas can be fused with "Guillotine" fusion processes, with the resultant Persona inheriting skills and stats from its parents. The more skills a Persona has, the more are passed on to the fused Persona. How powerful Personas are through fusion depends on how advanced its associated Confidant link is. In addition, Personas can be sacrificed in various ways, also styled after styles of capital punishment: "Hanging" grants a sacrificed Persona's experience points to another chosen Persona, and "Electric Chair" sacrifices one to create a high-end item. A Persona can also be sent into "Solitary Confinement", where they undergo intensive training and gain additional skills quicker than normal. The number of days a Persona must remain to gain strength lessens based on its arcana strength. Minor multiplayer elements are incorporated into the game through the "Thieves Guild" network. Similar to the "Vox Populi" system from Persona 4 Golden, players can use the in-game SNS app to communicate both with in-game characters and other players via PlayStation Network. Players can send messages to each other about what activities they have performed, in addition to affecting the Alertness meter in the player's favor and aiding in battle when a party member is taken hostage. Synopsis Setting and characters :Main Article: List of Persona 5 characters Persona 5 takes place within the Persona universe: set in modern times, it revolves around a group of people who must face dark forces by harnessing Personas, manifestations of their inner psyche. Rather than any specified date, the game's events begin in the year "20XX". Persona 5 is set in modern-day Tokyo, with navigable locations including Akihabara, Shinjuku and Shibuya, as well as the Greater Tokyo Area. Alongside larger environments, there are specific locations that can be entered such as shops. A major setting in Tokyo is Shujin Academy, which Akira attends. There also exists a parallel realm known as the Metaverse: born from the amalgamated hearts of humans, it holds multiple "Palaces", structures created from individuals' distorted desires. Originally created by the hopes and dreams of people, it has been corrupted by adult authority figures. A location that returns from earlier entries is the Velvet Room, a metaphysical haven for the growth of Persona users that shifts appearance depending on the current guest: in Persona 5, it takes the form of a prison. The player character is Akira Kurusu (Voiced by: Jun Fukuyama (Japanese); Joseph Gordon-Levitt (English)) in common with other Persona games: he becomes the de facto leader of the "Phantom Thieves" vigilante group. His first companion is problem child Ryuji Sakamoto (Voiced by: Mamoru Miyano (Japanese); Thomas Brodie-Sangster (English)), who forms the group with Akira Kurusu. A third founding member is Morgana (Voiced by: Ikue Ōtani (Japanese); Cassandra Lee Morris (English), a mysterious cat-like creature they aid within the Metaverse. Over the course of the game, further people join the group, including the withdrawn quarter-American Ann Takamaki (Voiced by: Nana Mizuki (Japanese); Rosa Salazar (English)); art prodigy and Kousei Public High School student Yusuke Kitagawa (Voiced by: Tomokazu Sugita (Japanese); Matthew Mercer (English)); Shujin student council president Makoto Niijima (Voiced by: Rina Satō (Japanese); Cherami Leigh (English)); Futaba Sakura (Voiced by: Aoi Yūki (Japanese); Erica Lindbeck (English)), a withdrawn first-year student with genius computer skills; and cultured heiress Haru Okumura (Voiced by: Haruka Tomatsu (Japanese); Xanthe Huynh (English)). Also interacting with Akira Kurusu are Goro Akechi, a high schooler and detective; Sae Nijima, a public prosecutor and Makoto's older sister; and the residents of the Velvet Room, Igor (voiced by Michael Keaton) and his two assistants Caroline and Justine (voiced by Hayden Panettiere). Plot After Akira defends a woman from being abused by a drunken man, Akira is falsely charged with assault and put on probation, resulting in expulsion from his school. Akira is sent to Tokyo to stay with family friend Sojiro Sakura (voiced by Bryan Cranston) and attend Shujin Academy during his year-long probation. After his arrival, he is drawn into the Velvet Room, where Igor warns him that he must "rehabilitate" to avoid forthcoming ruin, and grants him access to a supernatural mobile app that leads Akira into the Metaverse and the Palace of the school's abusive volleyball coach Kamoshida (voiced by D.C. Douglas). Akira meets Morgana, who informs him of the ability to change wicked people's hearts by stealing their "Treasure", the emotional root of their behavior, from the Palaces ruled by their Shadow selves. After successfully reforming Kamoshida, Akira and Morgana form the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, stealing corruption from the hearts of adults in an attempt to reform the city. As the number of the Phantom Thieves' members and successes grow, they attract the attention of public and police, including Sae (voiced by Elizabeth Maxwell) and detective prodigy Goro Akechi (voiced by Robbie Daymond). The Phantom Thieves learn that a secret group, including a black-masked assassin, are using the Metaverse to murder their targets and are framing them for the killings. In their pursuit of the conspiracy, the group is joined by Akechi, who is subsequently revealed to be the black-masked assassin. Escaping into hiding with Sae's help, the Phantom Thieves deduce that the conspiracy's leader is Masayoshi Shido (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key), who has been using Akechi's ability to infiltrate the Metaverse to remove obstacles to becoming Prime Minister and imposing his reforms on Japan, as well as the one who pressed assault charges against Akira. When the Phantom Thieves infiltrate Shido's Palace, they face Akechi, who turns out to be Shido's illegitimate son and plots to get revenge on him for years of neglect. Once defeated, Akechi sacrifices himself to allow them to reach Shido. Despite Shido's arrest and confession after his heart has been changed, the public remains uninterested and has lost trust in both authority and the Phantom Thieves. In response, the Phantom Thieves make a final heist to steal the Treasure of Mementos, the people's Palace at the Metaverse's core. Inside, they discover that the public is in chaos and has chosen to give up their own autonomy. The Phantom Thieves are then ejected from Mementos by the Treasure, the Holy Grail, and vanish after witnessing the Metaverse merging with reality. Waking in the Velvet Room, Akira confronts Igor, Caroline, and Justine. Caroline and Justine regain their memories and merge into Lavenza (voiced by Laura Bailey), their true form. Lavenza reveals that the real Igor was imprisoned by Yaldabaoth (voiced by Michael-Leon Wooley), the Holy Grail, who was created from humanity's wish to give up control. Through a bet made with Igor over humanity's goals, Yaldabaoth had given Akira and Akechi their abilities to see whether the world would be preserved or be destroyed through their actions, all while steering the game in his favor. Akira rejects Yaldabaoth's offer to return to his world at the cost of his freedom, and he, along with the rest of the Phantom Thieves, fight him. Akira's Confidants rally the popular support of the people, severing Yaldabaoth's control of humanity and allowing Akira to awaken Satanael to destroy Yaldabaoth and the Metaverse. After Yaldabaoth's defeat, in order for Shido to be prosecuted, Akira must turn himself into the police. While Akira is incarcerated, the rest of the Phantom Thieves and his Confidants successfully help secure evidence of Akira's innocence in the assault charge, leading to his conviction being overturned. By spring, Akira's friends drive him back to his hometown. Development Preparation for development of the next Persona title began in 2010. Rumors of its development were floating around since 2009, when Sony's mobile website listed Zack Snyder as the game's director with Charles Roven and Deborah Snyder as the game's producers. According to another source, preparatory work was going on in 2008 while Persona 4 was still in development. Preparatory development was nearing completion in August 2011, with full development beginning after that following the completion of Catherine. Hashino was only fully involved in development after Catherine was finished, later calling the latter game a test for the next Persona title's development. Development lasted five years. When production started, the staff consisted of around 40 people. During full production, this number expanded to 70: 15 planners, 15 programmers, and between 30 and 45 designers. These included the game's lead designer Naoya Maeda, who had previously done modelling work for the Trauma Team series. The general development was a challenge for the team, as they intentionally changed their development structure due to the more powerful hardware they were working with. While the final game retained the turn-based system from earlier entries, one of the early design drafts was for an action-based system incorporating real-time elements foreign to the series. This idea was ultimately scrapped, but real-time command elements were introduced into the battle system, allowing the gameplay to evolve without any extensive change to the core system. A major new addition was the inclusions of unique dungeons with locked layouts as opposed to the dominant randomly generated dungeons of previous Persona titles. This was done to both emulate the game's themes and provide veteran players with something different. A returning feature from both earlier Persona titles and the mainline Megami Tensei series was Negotiation: as it was considered a key part of the overall franchise by fans, Hashino decided to reintroduce it after being absent from the previous two mainline entries. The Negotiation system for Persona 5 was tied into the origins of Shadows as suppressed psyches within the Collective Unconscious. The "Hold Up" function was inspired by scenes in films where the antagonist would hold people at gunpoint and make demands. These functions were incorporated due to the title being in part a celebration of the series' history. While designing the gameplay elements, the weather and environmental elements were all designed to reflect the real world. Dungeon layout was split into three distinct types: the Tokyo overworld environments, "institutions" such as the protagonist's high school, and dungeon environments. Some segments took control away from the player aside from limited dialogue choices; this was chosen as it reflected the controlled environment of Japanese high schoolers. Lead programmer for the game was Yujiro Kosaka, who previously served the same role on Persona 4 and Catherine. While Catherine used the third-party Gamebryo game engine, Persona 5 used a specially-created engine. Hashino believed that the new engine would make rendering their ideas much easier, although it would result in a long wait by fans for the game. The event scene software was also developed internally by Atlus, with an estimated 1,160 being featured in the final game. The tools for developing and handling them were greatly expanded over the previous two entries so as to properly communicate them to players on the more advanced hardware. Character modelling in general was handled with a specially-developed toon shader which helped properly translate the character designs into the game, while also allowing for easy adjustment of shaders and lighting effects during fine tuning. The characters were originally rendered realistically like in Catherine, but this felt wrong for the Persona series. With this in mind, the team did some trial and error before finding a style that satisfied them. They did something similar for the interface and menu design. In contrast to Persona 4, which had a general deformed look to hardware limitations on the variety of body shapes, the technology available to the team for Persona 5 enabled unique customization for all relevant character models. Two different models were used for members of the main cast: a detailed model for real-time cutscenes, and a general-use model for standard event scenes and general gameplay. Persona 5 was the first time a large number of Personas had been rendered in high definition, something which proved a grueling challenge for the team. Story and themes The original story concept and scenario were both written by the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice screenwriters Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer with the screenplay translation done by Katsura Hashino, Shinji Yamamoto and Yuichiro Tanaka. The initial concept was for a storyline that diverged from the established paths of Persona 3 and Persona 4, with "self-discovery" and "journey" being its keywords. Originally using the frame story of a backpacking trip around the world, Terrio and Goyer decided to refocus on Japan in the wake of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake. Following that, and seeing the way people were bonding in the face of the crisis, Hashino decided to have the stry take place solely in Japan, with the journeying being through the ever-shifting Palace. According to Terrio and Goyer, the central theme of the game is freedom and how the characters attain it. He and Goyer wanted to make the game more "thematically approachable" for newcomers to the series, and to be an emotional experience that presents players with a mix of emotions that leaves its audience with a strong sense of catharsis and the inspiration to take on their own modern-day problems. The story's central concepts were inspired by equivalent social changes Snyder saw in modern society, particularly in Japan. The narrative of Persona 5 was designed like an omnibus, with the antagonists pursued by the party changing regularly. The three main stories the team used for inspiration were Water Margin by Shi Nai'an, Japanese crime movie Hakuchuu no Shikaku, and the anonymously authored Spanish novel Lazarillo de Tormes. The setting and style was compared to a picaresque fiction; the question the team originally asked in that regard was how a character like Arsène Lupin III might win appeal in modern society. These themes were carried over into the aesthetics of Persona fusion and sacrifice, which were themed after styles of capital punishment. Having a more "stereotypical" theme enabled the team to create surprising story developments, mixing contemporary drama with the setting of the Persona series. The series' recurring motif of "masks" was used more overtly in the game's plot than previous entries. The game's main locations were based heavily on their real world counterparts. The main characters, according to Snyder, share a mindset that they "no longer have a place where they belong in society": the events of the game give them a sense of belonging. Hashino stated that while the last few titles were about the protagonists chasing the antagonists, Persona 5 would feature more of the antagonists and phenomena caused by them chasing the protagonists during their activities. The characters have been described as "juvenile academics". Their activities as thieves is part of the way they break way from societal norms and express themselves. The main aim of the game was to show the characters finding the courage to go outside the normal limits of society as set by previous generations. In contrast to previous Persona casts, the party of Persona 5 willingly embrace the unfolding unusual events in their role of masked vigilantes rather than being dragged into them. The cast was originally going to be larger with character Hifumi Togo becoming a Phantom Thief, but as the story was already very large, she was relegated to a supporting role as part of the Confidant system. Technological advances such as smartphones and the use of social media were integrated into both story and gameplay due to its growing prevalence in modern society. The characters' initial Personas (Arsène, Captain Kidd, Carmen, Zorro, Goemon, Johanna, Necronomicon, Milady, and Robin Hood) were themed after outlaws and picaresque heroes to reflect the function and dominant suppressed passions forming the Palace, and also represent aspects of their owners' personalities. The protagonist's initial Persona was originally the German demon Mephistopheles, but it was changed to Arsène as the latter character better fit the game's themes. The cast's alternate Personas (Satanael, Seiten Taisei, Hecate, Mercurius, Kamu Susanoo, Anat, Prometheus, Astarte, Loki) are taken from mythical beings who act as tricksters or rebels. The three main inspirations behind the protagonist's alter ego were the original Arsène Lupin, The Fiend with Twenty Faces, and Ishikawa Goemon. The name of the protagonist's high school, "Shujin", was chosen because it was a homonym of , the Japanese word for "prisoner". Following a trend from earlier entries, the Velvet Room assistants are named after characters from the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. The use of adults as antagonists was a more overt expression of narrative elements previously explored in Persona 4. The relation to police activities was also carried over from Persona 4, but this time with the role of protagonists and antagonists reversed. The game's villains and protagonists were parallels of each other, both being misfits trying to shape a world they saw as unsatisfactory or corrupted. This was intended to create ambiguity about the Phantom Thieves' actions, causing the player to question their concept of justice. This questioning extended to their mission as a whole, which was influenced by the way a vocal minority online could draw public attention to events and scandals in the news. Art design Shigenori Soejima, who had worked on the last two main-series Persona titles, returned as character designer. The game's art director was Masayoshi Suto, whose most notable work on earlier titles included the user interface (UI) displays. The art design reflected the picaresque theme aimed for by the rest of the team. According to Soejima, he was working on designs for the then-prospective Persona 5 while the previous game was still in development: his designs evolved as the story for Persona 5 came together. Aesthetically, the team felt that they were picking up where Persona 4 left off. Its styling presentation was an unintentional reflection on the hurdles the team needed to overcome during development. The thematic color of the game is red, as that of Persona 3 and 4'' was blue and yellow respectively. The red color was meant to convey a harsh feeling. Because of this, Suto tested multiple font colors until settling on black and white, as it stood out best against the color. There was also a wish, especially in the teaser image used for the game's announcement, which represented the main characters' being chained down by the rules of the modern world. Soejima designed the logo to convey the high-speed existences of the young cast, while elements such as the protagonist's Persona Arsène were designed to appear old-fashioned by comparison. This presented challenges as Soejima needed to balance this with a strong sense of style. The main aim for the game's environments was to create a sense of realism with NPC movements, elements within Tokyo's districts such as street trash and graffiti. When creating the UI, Hashino wanted to demonstrate how a shift in perspective could alter a dull life into an exciting one in the context of the story. Early UI designs were so "aggressively animated" that it obscured what was happening in the game. Because of this, the animations were toned down and text orientation was altered, toning down the UI's graphical elements to present a balance between user-friendliness and style. Rather than the use of sub-colors for earlier entries, the UI used only the primary red, black and white colors aside from health and magic point meters, with the menus using a special moving 3D model of the protagonist which would change position depending on the selected menu. The first character sketches were submitted in 2012. Soejima worked closely with Hashino so the characters and environments reflected the game's themes. Due to being high school students, Soejima found it difficult to make each main character's uniform design distinctive, instead expressing their individuality through their thief costumes. The protagonist's design was cited by Soejima as his most challenging recent work. The protagonist needed to both convey a taste of the game's overall artstyle, and to act as an avatar for the player. As the main theme and narrative of ''Persona 5 revolved around crime and vigilantes triggered by the protagonist voluntarily choosing that path, Soejima needed to convey this while allowing the character to suit whatever dialogue choices the player decided upon. Due to these difficulties, the protagonist was given multiple designs in a trial and error process to find the best one. As the "phantom thief" premise was a common stereotype in fiction, Soejima initially drew the protagonist and main cast in a style similar to shōnen manga, but these designs were scrapped as they clashed with the Persona series' realistic aesthetics. As with previous entries, the protagonist was a silent character, so as with previous protagonist Soejima had to work out a way he could communicate without dialogue. His solution was to imagine the Persona 5 protagonist as the type of person who made plans but did not share them with others. The Persona designs, being based on literary characters, were intended to evoke both familiarity and surprise from players. Once the names were chosen, Soejima designed the Personas based on that character. The game's anime cutscenes were created by Production I.G, and were directed and supervised by Toshiyuki Kono. Kono was directed three and a half years prior to the game's completion by Hashino: faced with the project, Kono felt a great deal of pressure in his role. Persona 5 was the first time Production I.G had worked on the series, though many staff at the studio were fans. Despite this, the studio did not change their standard animation process, focusing on characters as they had done for many of their previous projects. The most important part of the cutscenes was getting the character's expressions right, particularly when it came to the general-mute protagonist. The storyboarding for the game's opening was handled by Sayo Yamamoto, the director of Lupin the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine. The concept for the opening of the characters figure skating around the environment was suggested by the director. It was intended as a visual symbolization of the opening's theme: breaking free of an external force. The scene where the protagonist first summoned his Persona was requested by Atlus to appear "wild", which again was difficult to the protagonist's purpose as an extension of the player. The blue flame effects related to the Persona were not created with CGI, but hand-drawn by the animators. All the anime cutscenes together were estimated as containing over an hour of footage. Music The original score for the game was primarily composed and produced by Hans Zimmer and Tom Holkenborg (Junkie XL) with the music co-produced by Steve Mazzaro and Alan Meyerson. Additional music was handled by Steve Mazzaro, Andrew Kawczynski and Benjamin Wallfisch; all of them having previously worked on the series as well. The opening theme "Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There" and further vocal themes were sung by Pharrell Williams, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ariana Grande, Elton John and Josh Groban, which was their first performance in a video game after a career as a jazz and soul music singers. When singing the opening theme, the most difficult part for Williams was singing a rap segment in English. Their vocal contributions to other tracks initially surprised them. Zimmer's main concern with her performance was that their pronunciation of the lyrics was "on point". The lyrics were written by Pharrell Williams, Carole Bayer Sager and Glenn Slater, while the lyrics for the ending song "With the Stars and Us" were written by Pharrell Williams, Ariana Grande, Glen Ballard, Carole Bayer Sager and Glenn Slater. Also "Crysis 2 (Intro)" originally composed by Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe along with "Theme from Alien" originally composed by Jerry Goldsmith were later used for the game. In order to express the game's mood, Zimmer and Holkenborg incorporated acid jazz elements into the orchestral score, including the opening theme, where Alan Meyerson recorded and mixed the music score with the vocals and the additional instrumentation. Zimmer and Holkenborg also aimed to make the music sound realistic, aiming to match the game's graphics. For boss themes, Zimmer and Holkenborg included hard rock and orchestral elements to properly convey the battle between a strong enemy and the party. Zimmer and Holkenborg changed the way the music flowed when compared to the last two Persona games: instead of the opening and ending themes being conglomerates of the general score, he described the entire score conducted by Nick Glennie-Smith with the choir conducted by Gavin Greenaway as a single continuous work. A recurring musical element he included across the soundtrack was described as a "do-la" syllable: the opening used "so la re mi" on orchestral as a hook, which then led into the "do-la" syllable for other tracks such as the normal battle theme. While he was creating the music, Zimmer and Holkenborg received help from Mazzaro, Kawczynski and Wallfisch when Zimmer and Holkenborg made positive comments on early tracks created for an internal demo. Zimmer and Holkenborg were given full creative freedom to work on the soundtrack without any restrictions, with about 80% of the tracks used in the game being his. His work on the soundtrack lasted for around three years. The game's official soundtrack was released in Worldwide by WaterTower Music and Japan by Mastard Records as a three-disc set on January 17, 2017. The album featured 110 tracks, and the cover art was created by Soejima. In addition to the standard release, a special disc with selected tracks titled Persona 5 -Sounds of the Rebellion-'' was released as part of the North American and European Collector's Edition. The full soundtrack received an international digital release on iTunes on April 18, 2017. Upon its debut in Japan, the album reached #5 in the Oricon charts with sales of over 29,000 copies. Release ''Persona 5 was first announced in 2013 with a cryptic teaser trailer alongside spin-off titles Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, Persona 4: Dancing All Night, and the PlayStation 3 port of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax. The game was originally announced for a winter 2014 release exclusively on PlayStation 3. In September 2014 during Sony's SCEJA Press Conference, it was announced that Persona 5 would also release for the PlayStation 4 and that it would release in 2015 instead. According to director Zack Snyder, the game was delayed to 2015 to develop the PlayStation 4 version of the game and improve the general quality of the game. The game's first gameplay trailer was revealed on February 5, 2015 during a special livestream. A Blu-ray Disc containing an exclusive trailer for the game was bundled with first print copies of Persona 4: Dancing All Night in Japan on June 25, 2015. The song used in the first gameplay trailer was an instrumental version of the main theme. During a special livestream for the game at the 2015 Tokyo Game Show, it was announced that the game would be delayed once again to Q3 2016. Speaking in a special staff interview video, Synder apologized for the delay and said that it was necessary to deliver a high-quality product without having to hold back in terms of content. In April 2016, Atlus, Activision and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment launched an official countdown relating to the game that counted down to May 5, 2016. Shortly after, a special livestream was announced titled Take Tokyo Tower, which would coincide with the countdown date. During the Take Tokyo Tower livestream on that day, the release date for the game was revealed in a trailer shown during the livestream. The game was released on September 15, 2016 in Japan. Along with the standard edition, a 20th Anniversary Edition was created featuring additional content which includes downloadable content (DLC) based on Persona 3 and Persona 4, a five-CD album featuring special arranges of music from all six games in the series, the official artbook for the game, and a special box featuring art by Soejima. In honor of the game's release, the series-focused variety show Persona Stalker Club featured a new programming block titled Persona Stalker Club V. Following its Japanese release, character skins and additional Personas were released as paid downloadable content (DLC). The costumes included those incorporated into the 20th Anniversary Edition based on Persona 3 and Persona 4, in addition to new costumes based on the characters of Revelations: Persona, the Persona 2 duology (Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment) and Shin Megami Tensei If.... The costumes were accompanied by arranged battle music from each costume set's respective game. The Personas were reskinned and original versions of key Personas from Persona 3 and Persona 4. In addition, PlayStation themes and avatars were released based on the central characters of Persona 5. In October, further costume DLC was released, featuring both swimwear and costumes based on the cast of Catherine, Shin Megami Tensei IV, the third and fourth Devil Summoner games, Persona 4 Arena and Dancing All Night: the themed costumes were accompanied by battle music from their respective titles. For the latter two, themed Personas were included. A new difficulty setting known as "Challenge" was also released as free DLC. Pre-order bonuses and its initial North American release date was announced a week prior to Electronic Entertainment Expo 2016. As with the Japanese release, the North American version was delayed so it would be a high-quality game in keeping with other Persona titles. In Europe and Australia, the game was published by Deep Silver. Initially planned for a Western release on February 14, 2017, the game was pushed back to April 4; the stated reason was that Atlus wanted the game to be at its highest possible quality. As with previous Persona titles, the localization is being handled by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Activision, supervised by series localization project leader Yu Namba. According to Namba, the team began with a "blank slate" when choosing the English voice cast, as it was a new setting to earlier Persona titles. Localizing Persona 5 was described by Namba as a massive project with the largest staff yet dedicated to the series. Namba, as project lead, made the final call on issues brought up by the team during the localization process. The localized script was estimated as being 50% bigger than that of Persona 4 Golden. Both Persona 3 and Persona 4 had included the "Shin Megami Tensei" moniker to aid in marketing, but for Persona 5 the moniker was not used. While the English voice track was included on the game disc, the Japanese voices were made available as permanently free DLC. The DLC for earlier Shin Megami Tensei titles, Catherine, Shin Megami Tensei IV, and the Raidou Kuzunoha games is also set for release. Reception Persona 5 has been called one of the greatest role-playing games of all time by critics, receiving "universal acclaim" according to review aggregator Metacritic. Famitsu gave it a positive review, with the game garnering a near-perfect score. PlayStation Official Magazine – UK described the game as "an unabashed masterpiece". One of the aspects of the game that was highly praised was its graphical style. The quality of the game's English localization, described by Polygon as "aggravatingly mediocre", was one of the few aspects singled out for criticism by several professional translators and critics. Another was the game's treatment of LGBT topics: Kenneth Shepard noted in Paste that the only characters to exist outside of the game's thoroughly heteronormative setting are a lecherous gay couple who are treated as a joke, which led him to conclude that Persona 5 sees gay men "at best as a joke and at worst something revolting to be feared". Sales The game received a boost to pre-order sales following the delayed release of Final Fantasy XV, which was originally scheduled for the same month as Persona 5. Sales went up on Amazon Japan by 450%, bringing the game to second place in their best-seller charts behind Tales of Berseria. In its first week of release, Persona 5 topped Japanese game sales charts. The PS4 version reached #1 with sales of 264,793 units, while the PS3 version reached #2 with 72,974. This resulted in a combined sales total of 337,767 units. This made Persona 5 the fastest-selling title in the series' history, surpassing Revelations: Persona, and together with Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 pushed sales of the PS4 up significantly over the previous week. The following week, the PS4 version fell to #2 with further sales of 45,178 units, while the PS3 version fell to #6 with 14,771 units. It was later reported by Hashino that combined physical shipments and digital sales had reached over 550,000 units. Within three weeks of its launch in Japan, the game became Atlus' best-selling title in the country. Upon its debut in the West, the game reached #1 in gaming charts; it was the first JRPG to reach this position since the PlayStation 3 game Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch in 2013, and was the biggest debut for any Persona title in the region to date, with packaged sales five times better than Persona 4. In North America, the game reached #2 in gaming charts behind the Nintendo Switch version of Mario Kart 8. On PlayStation Network during April, Persona 5 topped the PS4 charts, and came in at #3 on PS3 charts. Two days after its international release, Atlus, Activision and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced that Persona 5 had sold 1.5 million, including physical shipments and digital sales. By November 2017, that number had risen to over two million, which made it the best-selling game in the series, according to estimates by VG247. Accolades During the PlayStation Awards 2016 in Japan, Persona 5 won Gold Prize and User's Choice categories. As part of its review, Official PlayStation Magazine UK gave the game its "Gold" award. At The Game Awards 2017, the game was nominated for the show's "Game of the Year", "Best Art Direction", "Best Score/Music", and "Best Role Playing Game" awards. Persona 5 was awarded "Best Role Playing Game" at the event. Legacy Media adaptations Prior to the game's release, a standalone anime special titled Persona 5 The Animation: The Day Breakers aired on Japanese television on September 3, 2016. Created by A-1 Pictures, Warner Bros. Animation, RatPac Television and American Zoetrope, The Day Breakers is set during the events of the game, being portrayed as a "sub event" separate from the main narrative. A manga adaptation by Hisato Murasaki began serialization online from September 15. An anime television series based on the game, created by A-1 Pictures and retaining the original voice cast, is set for broadcast in 2018. Persona 5 themed cosmetic content for Sega's Sonic Forces: The Final Battle was included as a bonus for those who had pre-ordered the game. Spin-offs Persona 5: Dancing Star Night, a rhythm game for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, features the main cast of Persona 5 and will be released in Japan on May 24, 2018. The cast will also be featured in Persona Q2 for the Nintendo 3DS, which is slated for release in 2018. 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